


Just a Regular Man

by tardis19



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-26
Updated: 2008-05-26
Packaged: 2018-10-26 09:10:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10783809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardis19/pseuds/tardis19
Summary: Neville Longbottom doesn't seem himself as a hero, but a regular man.





	Just a Regular Man

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** This is only second fic, so please bear with me.

Just a Regular Man

If you had told him that he would one day be a hero, he would have thought you were making fun of him and shrugged you off. Up until that year, he had always questioned why he was sorted into Gryffindor. He wasn’t brave and Malfoy and the Slytherins made sure to remind him of that every chance they got. He was shy and clumsy and could never remember the password to the common room. He could hear the whispers behind his back. The one’s questioning how he came to be in Gryffindor. 

But that year everything changed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone off on a quest; a mission if you will and he was left at Hogwarts. Harry, who had always been the leader, wasn’t there and somehow Neville found himself along with Ginny, becoming leaders. The DeathEaters and Carrows had taken over the school and for the first time in his life, Neville felt brave. He felt that they could take action and that he could be a leader. Never a hero, mind you, but a leader. Something inside him told him to take charge and he did. More importantly people listened to what he had to say and he gained their respect. That was what Neville had wanted. A little respect. That was all. He didn’t want to be like Harry. Having people fawn over you all the time and make a big deal about who you are. He just wanted people to stop making fun of him and realize that there was more to him than this shy, clumsy young man. 

By the time the day of the final battle had arrived, Neville had gone through a significant change. Gone was the shy boy of yesterday replaced by a determined young man willing to give everything he had to the cause. When Harry asked him to kill Nagini if it came down to that, he readily agreed. He never though he would actually have to do it, but the opportunity arose and he took it. After that, he was thrust into the limelight. For once he got to know what it was like to be Harry; and he hated it. Yes, it was nice to get noticed and recognized for something he did, but he didn’t want the fuss. Years after the battle, women and men (mainly women) would come up to him on the streets and shake his hand, and gush over the fact that they had met Neville Longbottom. 

As far as Neville is concerned, he is just a regular man. A Professor of Herbology, a husband, and a father. Not a hero. He still hears the students whispering behind his back, but it’s not about his being a coward, but rather about his being a hero and he just smiles.


End file.
